Due to privacy laws ...today, there is no photo. Noooooo!!! *distraught*

Today I was grateful for small, marvellous children [whom I was teaching to dance]. They are all so beautiful and it's such a joy to teach them :)
Also appreciative of Miss Maree and her general policy of "If you can still breathe, keep dancing!" :) my legs were about to collapse, but it was great to be back!
Only 104.25 hours of student teaching left, and a whole twelve weeks in which to do it! Woot, indeed.
Grateful for sneaky kisses! ;)

Happiness and peace, loves.
Lise xx

Hurrah and hurrah and hurrah!

Had a very nice dinner with the Cheesman family :) lovely catch-up and chat. The younger ones had a water fight all over the place - had to be careful to avoid stray shots from the water guns! Twas fun to watch them :)

Also grateful for a very cheerful phone call that resulted in much skipping and such! [l.o.v.e.y.o.u]. So very immensely excited! 

I was also thankful for my lovely, wonderful LOOPY family! Love them dearly :)

and for sleeping innnn :)

and for my trendy trendy new dress! Thanks to the lovely Jarrah for op-shopping it for me :)

Tis a short blog tonight, as my mathematical homework is raging in the back of my mind to be done :( But I hope your days were all enormously joyful! Love!

Lise xx

Dinner Partay!

Grateful for a lovely, lovely night and the fact that, [mostly], my food worked out splendidly. Just not so much lemon, next time ;)

It was a fantastic night; bruschetta as an entree, cous cous with feta and spring beans as a main, and mint brownies for dessert :)
Had a very nice time with a very good friend, chatting and cooking and such. A beautiful night! :)

Was also grateful for the marvellous rainbow outside my window!
And for a very, very pretty new dress :) thankyou, dear friend!

That's about all. The loveliest night, one of the loveliest in the world :)
Love and sunshine and joy to all of you!
Lise xx

Colour!

Grateful for coloured stationery, which makes homework and being organised a whole darn lot more interesting :)
Coloured highlighters&pens&pencils&books&such :)

May all your days be filled with beautiful colours. Be kind to others, because everyone is gorgeous someplace inside. Sorry its short and sweet [like the surprise dessert I have made, hurrah!].

Love you all, in a variety of colours and shades!
Lise xx

Lazy Days...

Grateful for those warm, lazy afternoons that fade into hazy evenings. I always seem to finish reading a book just on dusk, so I can watch the bats migrating past my window looking for tonight's meal, the sun just sinking, the stars just coming out. Its a beautiful, contemplative type of day. The best time for thinking, having a clear mind and being creative, in my own opinion :)
I adore these afternoons because they are perfect for reading, tea-drinking, and the general om nomming of biscuits dunked in said tea. [not pictured, as they had already been happily consumed :)].
So yes, that was my little grateful moment of the day. Hurrah :)

Love to you, loves!
Lise xx

A little bit sad, a little bit happy.

Today, this evening; grateful for...
> Clear, beautiful weather! [though the rain is expected to set in again by the weekend - darn!].
> Rad people working toward making the world a better place for the future [have a peek at http://vimeo.com/16382761 and www.thegreenwayup.com. Groovin' :)]
> New friends, who become old friends, who are off on new adventures in the scary 'real world' of Melbourne :) wish her all the best for the dance career she'll pursue there, and hope she has a whole lot of fun :)

Also went ski biscuiting with the family today. Along with the rest of Australia, it seemed, as there was almost no space left at the lake. Ah, Australia Day :) came home and chilled pleasantly for the afternoon, then over to good friend's house for dinner. Last time for some time that we shall be privileged with her marvellous culinary skills :( ah well, hope she has a splendid time in the big city :)

Happy Australia Day, pretty people. Hope the public holiday was kind to you.
Lotsa love,
Lise xx

Oh so excited!

Helloooo, lovelies!
Yes, the jerseys were dealt out to us eager seniors today! The authoritative powers of the school have been withholding them since the end of last year, and we've been questioning after them ever since :) but today, we finally have them in our hot little hands! For this, I was both grateful and immensely cheerful. As you can no doubt see from my incredibly excited expression!
Sadly, as a prefect, I am obliged to wear the formal uniform for the first month of school and, sadly, we are forbidden from wearing jerseys with formal attire :( fair enough, I suppose. Ah well, I'm thrilled that we finally have them! Senior jerseys are another one of those things that you watch the 'big kids' get every year and think 'ohhh, I can't wait til its my turn!'. So, now it is. And no doubt it'll be gone in a flash and we'll be pitched into the real world. How wonderfully terrifying :)
I was also grateful today for the opportunity for a lovely chat with a girl that I know a little, and who I like :) but who I see very little of. She sat with us to have lunch and it was just so nice to talk to. She's quite marvellous :)
It's sad, but yet true: I was grateful to be back at school :) lots of construction underway, classrooms [finally] being renovated. New timetable [WHY], some different teachers. Most of this I'm happy for, and grateful that my two favourite teachers [Math and English] did not change.

Hope your day was a groovin' one. And that if you have one, you're wearing that jersey even though its 25 degrees outside ;)

Love and love and love!
Lise xx

The beginning of the end...

Oh my gooooddnessss.

First day of grade 12! [sort of. We 'school leaders' had to go in when the 8's and 11's started. The rest of school resumes tomorrow].We're the big kids now, no one to look up to or aspire towards. Just us.

I'm looking forward to this year. Mildly terrified of it as I am. I am happy with the people [students.teachers.others] that I'll be working with, and I plan to work hard and achieve what I want :)

I can be seen above right, being pretty freaking excited about being a senior ;) and below that, Jarrah and I are wearing our 'formal faces', appropriate to the uniform! Below left is my final 'first day of school, smile!' photo. EVER.IN.THE.WORLD. Lordyyy.

I was also grateful for surprise coffee! Squee, loveliness :) To celebrate the first day, or the last day? There was some technological confusion, but it was marvellous fun. Thannkyouuu. :)

Tomorrow its business as usual. Things I do, like my chemistry assignments...they MATTER now. I tried incredibly hard before now, of course, butthe marks go toward our REAL LIVES, now. Hurrah for incentive-based motivation ;)

That's about all I have to say on the matter. Grateful for new adventures, last first days, surprises, and being the big kids :)

All you darlings, keep dreaming, keep smiling. Spread the love and happiness. Heck, surprise someone by taking them for coffee! :) Remember - 2011 is the provider of 365 opportunities to make someone's day!

All my grateful love, beautifuls.

Lise xx

My cousins. They crazy, man! :)

...but I love them! :)
My younger brother can [not] be seen here losing a wrestling match :)
Grateful for a visit from the cousins today, who are moving up here! So very exciting!
Fairly pumped to go back to school tomorrow. Last first day, ever, in the history of my mandatory education. Embarking on the last year-long quest before the [real world]. Scary! Its quite horrible to think that, after the end of this year, I may never see some of these people again, even the ones who I count my good friends. We might all go our own separate ways and end up being just memories, people we hardly remember in the school album, or old snapshots. And on that sombre note, I bid you all goodnight :)
Love!
Lise xx

Organised :)

Today I was grateful for organisation :) that sounds like something of a lame thing to be grateful for. But really, without my diary and calendar and such, I'd probably not get to things on time, forget some things entirely and no doubt commit the heinous crime of missing people's birthdays. So, hurrah for being organised :)
Lise xx

Dressss :)

After spending several weeks being considered a [WORK IN PROGRESS], my dress of spotty deliciousness is complete! Much to my proudness, as evidenced by that immensely goofy grin on my face. I was muchly thankful for the considerable expertise of mother, without whom my masterpiece would never have survived to the stage of completion. I realise the photo is not the best, but is it not rad? :)

Love.
Lise xx

A darn splendid day :)

Such a darn lovely day :)
Had a nice day in town with a marvellous person, for which I was very grateful indeed. We went for lunch, played on the swings, wandered about in the secondhand bookstore, made friends with a puppy, formulated plans to steal a cute pony, climbed a tree, drank several smoothies, and hid from the rain in the nursery, pretending to look at pots until such a time as we could be rescued by mother :P
It was a beautiful day, and I was glad for the company of one of the many amazing people in my life. Thanks, Jarrah. Ain't no one like you :)

Night all.
Lise xx

A quote? Oh my.

'To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.'

                                                                   -Bertrand Russel, British philosopher.

I felt that I might start with a quote, as I'm sure you can see :)

Today I was grateful for my writing. I spent a lot of my day just laying about and writing a story, throwing around ideas, editing, and the like. I love it, the thrill of creating a surreal world, of conjuring up people, making them interact, weaving a plot...I sound like a dreadful nerd, but its a beautiful thing :)

I was also grateful that I was able to negotiate this term's dancing timetable to suit my needs very well :) in theory, I will have all my teaching hours by the time my exams roll around and will still have plenty of time to study, which is a vast improvement on some terms :P

The rain which cooled down the afternoon and made everything fresh and lovely was also much appreciated :)

Nerd love from me to you!
Lise xx

Ahh, pizza! :D

More friend-gratefulness today!
Pikelets for breakfast, swimming at the lake for hours [til driven away by storming!] and made mini pizzas for dinner. [from scratch, dough and all! So proud :)]
Had a lot of fun and was incredibly grateful for flour fights and splashing about and being able to be comfortably friends :)

Hope all your days were happy :)
Lise xx

Catchin' Up. :)

Today, mainly grateful for friends and catching up and silliness in general :)

Played tennis this morning, which was loads of fun and ended in a fist-breaking water fight. Such good fun and nice to be in the company of a good friend :)
Then this evening it was off to a gathering of the lovely ladies of Dance Connection. A dinner party of sorts, everyone brought an entree, main or dessert and I think a good time was had by all :) for some of us, it was the last chance to see faces that we'd practically grown up with before they headed off into the real world to work, go to uni and travel :) I was immensely grateful to have that chance. It was agreed by everyone that it should have happened alot sooner, but everyone was pleased that it happened :)

Keep in contact, and tell them you love them TODAY because who knows what will happen tomorrow?
Lise xx

.:. My handsome Prince .:.

So today I was grateful for the company of my beloved furry friend, Prince.
He's snuggly and adorable and I love the way he gets excited whenever I go near his lead.
He's great to talk to when no one else cares.
He's not such a great swimming buddy [I nearly always end up scratched, bruised and bitten in his excitement]
He loves me even when I'm too busy to play :)

Princey darling, I love you :)

Keep being happy my lovely ones. I love you all so much.
Lise xx

Easy as Pie! [lamest.pun.ever.]

And for the record, its technically a tart :)
My gratitude today was for:

~The self-founded ability and grand experience of cooking! I was so very proud :)

~Friends dropping in unexpectedly for no other reason than to have a chat and say Happy New Year :)

~Running into lots of people I hadn't seen for a while just at the supermarket.

~Reading. Books. All things of the sort <3

~Rainy weather in which to appreciate the above point.

~Driving! Successfully parking and reversing without drama ;)

~Doing things for others to make them feel special, or grateful, or just to let them know you thought of them :) girl scout good deeds, yeah! ;)

Keep smiling, beautiful people!
Lise xx

Nawwww :)

Went to Cairns and then the paternal grandparents for Grandad's birthday :) Grateful today forrr:

~Helpful friendly shop assistant fellow! Its always nice browsing when he's there, he's lovely and has a chat :)

~Nice old lady I met in the change rooms of another store. She was talking to her friend when I came out to show mum the pretty marvellous vintage-y dress I was looking at and she turned to her and said something along the lines of "Oh that's just perfect, doesn't she look lovely? Like a fairy princess!"
I was so muchly flattered!! Twas very sweet :) 

~Also bought...2011 School Diary! Last one! Oh no! [any who know me know how integral the diary is to my schooling experience :P] and my formal shoes, and my non-formal shoes for school, so it can be safely assumed that I am entirely set for my final journey through ASHS.

Home from Cairns and off to the grandparent's place for the birthday celebrations and festivities. It was very nice [as you can see, Thomas the cat was less than amused and slept under the table for the duration. I wanted to photograph the lady who complimented me, but thought it might be odd].

Home again, only to find that a good friend [who is moving to Melbourne in a week or so] had dropped off several large bags of her old clothes. Hand-me-downs, hurrah! :) Sister and I had a great time riffling through. Then, ate dinner and fell asleep watching the news coverage of the Brisbane flooding. Was woken up, had a very quick phone call and fell asleep almost the second I'd hung up :) Nice night.

All my prayers and love to the victims of the floods. Feel quite useless sitting up here watching the television about it. So sad, but it is good to see the people pulling through and helping each other out. This is the sort of event where we see the Australian spirit truly - or lack thereof, in the case of those low-lives caught looting the damaged homes. Shame on them! What's wrong with the world when we would steal from those who have just lost everything?!
And on that sombre note, I shall leave you, dears. Heart full of love and light to everyone.

Lise xx

Water War!

 

No sleeping in today! :)
Instead, I spent my time between 7am and 9am filling water balloons until my fingers were sore from tying them together [Grace and I can be seen above being very, very proud!]. Little brother Will had four friends over for a 'water war' involving Nerf guns, water bombs and any other ammunition they could find and hoard. So, I got saturated [entirely against my will and intention] by four boisterous eight year olds. Admittedly, it was fun, and I think the boys had a good day which was the main thing :) They divided into two teams, set up 'bases' behind umbrellas and generally had fun eating chocolate cake and drenching each other. Oh, to be a child :)
Finished my book, too. Memoirs of a Geisha, muchly enjoyed! :)

Nothing much more of interest to report. Thanks for reading loves, I hope you all had an utterly beautiful day!
Big {monkey} smiles and silly faces,
Lise xx

A bit of a nothing day.

Again, I spent half the day unconscious. In a nice way.

Caught up with friends who we haven't seen in ages, had a lovely catchup! :)
Watched a groovy alternative Swedish film with them. Thank gosh for subtitles, yes?
Admired rather enormous golden orb spiders. One of which was eating a Christmas beetle. Poor dear.
Oh, and reading, too. Yay! :)

And, due to my bad habit of excessively sleeping in, that is all I did today. Sorry it's short and possibly boring.
Love love <3

Goodnight, you lovely things.
Lise xx

short.sweet.simple.school.sleeping.such. Hurrah for alliteration! :)

It was a nice kind of day. Simple, and kind of short since I slept half of it away, but nice.
Almost done with my final back-to-school-shopping tasks ever. As in, EVER! This I find both terrifying and exciting. And sad, too. Mainly sad. Not so much effort as usual went into the decorating this year, as you can see [over the years, books have been covered with everything imaginable: posters, stickers, cutouts from colouring-in books, photos, fake jewels. You name it, its been on the cover of my school books.] This was also a little sad, but happy too. Means I'm nearly at the end of that seemingly endless tunnel comprising our mandatory education. New adventures await! :)
Had morning tea with the grandparents today, too :) 'twas lovely, its been awhile. Immensely 'nawww!' moment as we drove off, they stood on the end of the driveway and each waved one-handed, holding hands with the other :) very sweet, I hope I can be like that when I'm their age, too!
Another positive from my day was that I became enlightened as to the existence of the PASSIONFRUIT FLOWER.  Which happens to be very pretty and a little obscure looking in a lovely, lovely way. I take Senior Biology and we spent nearly a whole year on plants, so one would assume I should have learned that all things which fruit also flower. Suppose that's why I'm only getting 'C's' ;) But a big thank you, bringer of enlightenment! You made my day, really :)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, more or less summarises my day. Short and sweet and simple and such :)

Dream sweetly, loves.
Lise xx

Shells and Other Beachy Things

Beach day todayy, for 24th wedding anniversary of the parentals. Hurrah! :)
Twas great really. Lots of sun and sand and salt and shells and all that other grand stuff that is involved in beaches :)
Icecream, too! ;)
Today, the marvellous things that I found in life were:

Cappuccinos and pancakes.
Building sandcastles, digging moats and the like.
Swimmingggg :)
Reading in the sunshine.
Snoozing in the warm shade.
Collecting shells.
Picnic lunching.
Cool breeze and warm water. 
Driving!
The ocean. Just in general.
Parentals who love each other lots. Nawww :)

That's about all I have for you tonight, sweets. Now I'm off to make a toast and have a chat.

Love eternal to all of you, too.
Lise xx

The Grand Adventures of HollyJorge, Dani and Lise!

Helloooo!

So, today's grateful picture is a montage of the epic and marvellous girly weekend from which I have just returned. So, so much loveliness every single day:

Ridiculousness. In general.

Op-shopping with the two lovely ladies.

Game of monopoly in which Dani robbed us of everything with her marvellous scheming, the duration of which was about 4+ hours.

Wondrous swimming for ages and ages in the lake. Rope swinging and floating and balancing and talking.

The amazing (often hilarious) conversations that are inevitable at such events.

Secondhand-book-shopping. Marvellous!

Bus trips.

Representing Elmo through mime, the result of which was a retarded dance and the playing of an imaginary piano.

Late nights.

Silliness in the shops.

So many mints!

Trampolining until the thread started to break!

Breakfast at the local cafe.

Sitting on the floor of the confectionary aisle for a good chat. Then migrating to the floor of the nearby bookstore, to read postcards of other people's anonymous secrets.

Familiar faces of friends.

Marco polo in the pool.

Trashy novels (Dani: hemorrhage :P).

Candlelit night swimming.

Laughing at ourselves, each other, the world.

And so, so much more!

Thank you, my beautiful girls, for everything :) this weekend was amazing, a grand adventure, indeed! We must do it again. But thanks for always being there, listening to me talk, concocting evil plans for the ones who drive us crazy. Everything!

For penguins and sparkly bracelets!

And for being the very best friends, ever in the world. I love you dearly. Like, as much as fat kids love cake!

Smiling at you til my cheeks hurt!

Lise xx

All The *air guitar* Small Things!

A day of pretty small things! The type that are always overlooked unless you're looking, and which seem insignificant until you realise how lovely they truly are.
Took our postponed trip to the lake this afternoon for a swim about with the puppy dog :) The water has risen a lot with the rain, so most of the lily pads and such have been swallowed up, however here and there are still dotted the little white flowers that grow between the lily pads. I'd been planning to photograph them for awhile now, and alas I thought they were gone! Ah, but they persevered, so that made me quite happy.
Lots of nature's little wonders seemed to be out and about today. Just this afternoon I saw two pairs of mum-and-baby grasshoppers today [this is what I assumed them to be. You may think differently, but leave me to my dreams.] and some busy little bumblebees flitting about as well. The water made my day too, beautiful and cold on such a hot day :)
I am also packed and ready for an epic adventure with two of the loveliest ladies I know! Many montages may be needed to capture the splendidness of this weekend! :)
They always tell us not to sweat the little things, but also to appreciate them. So which is it? Who knows. Maybe not sweat some, appreciate others? Appreciate that we're not worrying? Perhaps all of them. Ah well. Love the little things, lovelies!

Lise xx

Sunshiny! *^_^*

Hello, pretty people!
Today, the dressmaking continued and progress was made. The bodice is almost done, so the halfway mark is in sight! Squee! :)
Formal uniforms for this year were also purchased and, bless them, are not so hideous as I anticipated, so that's something to be VERY grateful about ;)
A swim in the lake was postponed due to lightning, but on the flipside I [LOVE!] summer storms.
Its been pretty much all dress making and movie-viewing here today. Generally lovely :) Not an active day, but quite a productive one. Hope all your days were delightful!

Lise xx

Sometimes There's So Much Grateful, You Need a Montage.

A day of such radness! Such radness that a photography montage was required to capture all the loveliness :) 

For starters, I began working on my second me-made dress, ever! The fabric is red and white spotty [as you can see], and brings me great happiness with its coolness! So far, all is cut out and pinned and the bodice is darted. Fingers crossed it will be finished tomorrow :)

Secondly, I was on the phone when I spotted a little frog stuck on my window. This was so exciting that I had to put down the phone and gallivant off to take a photo :)

Thirdly, we took down the Christmas tree. A bit sad to put it away for another year, especially since next year might be my last Christmas at home! D:
Today I was also grateful for:

Rain. It had been so hot all day, it just cooled everything down nicely :)

Crying. It does feel good [better] when it's over. And

Diabolically plotting with two lovely ladies for an epic weekend adventure!

Have fun and be happy,

Lise xx

I Have Precisely 10 Minutes to Post This While its Still Today.

[Yes, its true. I appear to be 'photobombing', as they say, in my own photo. A tragedy.]
So, today our marvellous 'adpoted cousins' came to visit :) We sat down for afternoon tea, had a chat, they stayed for dinner and suddenly it was 11 o'clock at night. Time flies when you're having a great time, does it not? It was wonderful to see them again, and catch up on the last twelve months. The girls are about to enter their last year of uni studying occupational therapy, and they're loving it which is exciting :) Twas lovely to hear all their stories from placements, uni, life in general. James is Music Captain of Kirwan High, which is also very exciting, AND we are both in grade twelve this year. How wonderfully terrifying :) lots of chatting and exchanging of stories and 'do you remember that time we..'s. Basically, it was positively a delight to get back in touch, to see them again and to spend time together and share a meal. A beautiful day, indeed :)
Hope you all had days as lovely as mine. And even if you didn't, keep that pretty head held high and smile, because you are loved and amazing :)
Sweet dreams, all you dears.

Lise xx

Rainy Weather Puts Me in the Mood to Wear Stripy Socks...

Today, I had reason to be grateful for a lot of things. A successful shopping trip meant lovely new items of clothing (one of which is pictured above in all its prettiness) and a really nice day out with my family. Aside from that, I was also thankful for some good advice from a dear friend, as well as some random comments that made me giggle inside. Thank goodness for best friends! [and cookie dough!]. 
I was reminded today of the things that truly count, by a number of beautiful souls who I am lucky to count as friends; to have faith and not be afraid to make mistakes, and to always be myself, no matter who does or doesn't like it. Also, not to worry too much about any extra deliciousness consumed as a result of the festive season!

A note to my friends, to whom I was particularly grateful today: you are all beautiful, sparkling jewels and I love you all very much. Thank you for filling my days with laughter, for sharing my tears and for always being there for me.You are all angels and I am blessed to have you and your wonderfulness in my life.

Lots of smiles
Lise xx 

PS: I had a splendid time when I re-discovered my stripy socks today. The rainy weather makes the world feel all cold and wintry. Hence, the title of this post. This weather puts me in the mood to wear my socks, drink a hot cup of tea and curl up in bed with a book. Which is, as it happens, exactly what I plan to do :) Night all! <3

Hi there, and welcome to 2011.

Well, its strange to type that year as the actual date. It seems to have been a long time coming. For me [and thousands of others my age], this year signifies the last stage of our compulsory education. Its the transition between what we know and the big, scary real world. Its leading us out of our comfort zones, from one adventure to the next. After 2011, we're considered adults, and as such must pretend to be responsible and generally know what we're on about. So we'll see how that goes. But for now, I want to enjoy this year. I want it to be memorable, joyful, inspiring and liberating. Maybe that's a lot to expect of something barely an hour old, but here's hoping we can all make it that great :)
I started the year in a lovely, positive way - surrounded by family, chatting to friends, and generally feeling good about the time ahead of me. Today, in the early hours of this fine morning, I am grateful for everyone and everything that made 2010 my best year so far. It was full of smiles, tears, laughter, hugs, kisses, and a whole lot of love which shone through it all. Friends are the greatest possessions we have, and love is the cure for all things. So says me, wise as I am not. I hope that, wherever you are and whoever you are with, that you welcomed in the new year with joy and optimistic anticipation, and I look forward to seeing what will happen in the next twelve months. It shall be, indeed, a grand adventure :)
Happy New Year, lovelies.

Lise xx